The S&S Precision Plate Frame

The S&S Plate Carrier is unlike anything you have ever seen and it is going to change the way that you look at armor carriers…forever. S&S Precision applies real world experience to their designs. The Plate Frame is so elegant in its simplicity that you will wonder why no one has done it before. Its sleek, skeletonized frame grasps your plate with no excess material, yet offers a rigid mounting platform for accessory pouches. Weighing a scant, 1 lb 6 oz, you only carry what you need.

The Plate Frame is sized by plate cut and size. S&S Precision has been taking great pains to ensure that they work with manufacturers of the most common plates first with additional models being added regularly. While intended for use with “Stand Alone” plates, oftentimes, those that rely on “In Conjunction” plates wear a separate soft armor vest. When this is not possible, S&S Precision has developed a solution to accommodate plate backers.

The Plate Frame is offered in two models: Tactical for most military applications and LE for Law Enforcement duties.

Tactical Model

The Plate Frame’s skeleton sections are designed to accommodate the attachment of equipment. In addition to this standard Tan color, S&S Precision has dipped Plate Frames in camouflage patterns in order to enhance total signature management.

Law Enforcement Model

The Plate Frame LE is great for officers who wear soft armor as part of their regular duties but may need to quickly “armor up” with in conjunction plates for raids, warrant service or active shooter scenarios. It’s as simple as sliding the Plate Frame over your head and adjusting the cummerbund. Additionally, they can integrate designators such as “Police” into the design to aid in recognition.

Here, you can see the Harness Assembly which is made from a non-hygroscopic material that resists the effects of salt water and is laminated to hook and loop. There are no stitches in this process meaning no thread can become abraded. This also means that the Harness offers a much lower, sleeker profile.

S&S Precision also offers a suite of pouches that connect directly to the Plate Frame. An adapter is under development that will allow you to retrofit any PALS compatible pouches. Additionally, they offer removable side plate pouches that integrate right into the non-rigid cummerbund.

This entry was posted
on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at 10:43 and is filed under Armor, SHOT Show.
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Very interesting. Will this design allow fragments or back-side deformation of the plate to injure the wearer when hit? Does anyone know if “standard” plate carriers contain any fragments inside the Cordura Nylon carrier? I really like this concept but need to know more about what a plate does when its hit while housed inside and outside a carrier.

And oh yeah, outstanding job to S&S. This is what happens when you free your solution from an assumed manufacturing process. Aside from the improvements for the end user, consider the ramifications on labour costs, material, QA, and lead times when compared to a typical plate carrier.

I like the innovation and I hope to see what colors/camo patterns they can apply to the frame. I wonder if they will have some ultra thin camo sleeves to cover the plates, as most of the ones I have a flat or glossy black…not so subtle.

I don’t see how this is better than low-pro carriers like the Crye JPC or Mayflower, LBT, etc.. offerings. The JPC, for instance, weights 1.2lbs (barely more than that) yet allows to mount any pouch necessary without the need of an adapter for a similarly low profile.

I can understand that “it’s just personal preference”, but exposing the plate so much (UV, dust, etc) and making it absolutely necessary to have either adapters or a chestrig on top of that to carry anything seems like quite a drawback to me.

I often see these comments from people who are used to going to a big box to purchase a pack of Tshirts for 3 bucks. That isn’t what you are getting here.

It is very expensive to manufacture here in the US. Additionally, many companies we feature here on SSD don’t build on large volumes due to the specialized nature of their products. There just isn’t a market for them. On top of that, you have to pay for innovation and these costs don’t go down because you are building fewer of something. It costs money to develop new products. You have to expect to pay for quality, it doesn’t just spontaneously happen. Higher prices for specialized kit is caused by R&D coupled with a smaller market. This means that the manufacturer must amortize their development costs over fewer sales.

Buy quality, cry once. Inversely, you can buy an inexpensive product that may not perform as well. In most cases this means you will have to purchase the same item repeatedly, but in others the consequences can be more dire.

I have yet to see a S&S Precision product that is lacking in either innovation or quality. Hard men rely on S&S Precision products everyday to prosecute the war. These are men who can use any product they want, and they choose S&S Precision.

A stand-alone plate is just that. It’s designed to protect the shooter from the primary round strike and subsequent frag (3X from 7.62). Most units have not evolved to the stand alone plate yet (but may after seeing this) and still require the kevlar soft backing to protect the operator/officer. Looks like the kit can carry plenty. The stand alone plates are designed to be used in maritime environments (salt water) so degradation of the plate from exposure is a non-issue. If it functions as good as it looks, they win!

I think a big advantage of this system, besides the obvious, will be the fact that it can’t hold water. Even the lightest of plate carriers with the most drainage holes still holds onto water, if even just for a minute. Then the moisture hangs out and starts to smell. With all the obsession some groups have with their equipment being lighter, faster, better, newer, shinier, and cooler this thing will do very well with the high-speed crowd; it’ll just be a personal/individual purchase for most of them.

Interesting take off point for the shoulder strap/plate interface. seems like it might help make the whole assembly a little more stable or “huggy”. Not sure of the current state of the art stand-alone plates as regards weight, but here’s hoping this piece helps get said “hard men” there “firstest with the mostest”.

It looks a little over-the-top to me but I guess someone asked for it, right? What is the hard material holding the plates and is that going to be durable especially in cold weather where cracking could be an issue?